


To Look Love In The Face

by thelotuseaters



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Angst and Feels, Canon Non-Binary Character, F/F, More angst, The new avatar, fluff too btw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:01:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25744015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelotuseaters/pseuds/thelotuseaters
Summary: Korra meets the new Avatar and they look exactly like Asami.
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Comments: 18
Kudos: 142





	To Look Love In The Face

**Author's Note:**

> \- I'm obsessed with the idea of the next Avatar looking like Asami, so I wrote this to satisfy myself.  
> \- Also I love a bit of angst.

_Spiritual world_

  
At the end of a large, breathtaking and full of life garden, there was a lake. The spiritual world could be the most peaceful place in the universe when it wanted to be. Korra looked up to the sky and saw the brightest tone the blue color could ever achieve. There were spirits flying over her head, performing a perfect synchronized dance.

Korra looked around, at the trees, at the lake, at the swing of grass caused by the wind and felt nothing. She knew she had just died, but it was strange nevertheless. Korra, of all Avatars before her, was incredibly used to feelings, to rage, to sadness, to love. Now she felt nothing as if all her emotions had depended on her human body only. Now that she had lost that side of her, Korra was devoid of emotion.

She walked, carefully, towards the lake and leaned down, wishing to see her face reflected on the water. But the strangest thing happened, Korra stared at the water and saw nothing, there was no reflection, no face. Only aquatic spirits coming and going, not even noticing Korra was standing there, staring at them in disbelief. It wasn't the death she imagined she would have, of course. The former Avatar didn't feel sad though.

She still had desires at least.

That made her close her eyes and attempt to reach her oldest friend.

"Raava, can you hear me?", Korra said in her head.

No answer. She tried again, again and again.

"Raava, please..."

And the silence went on for a while. Korra sighed, but she didn't give up. Raava would listen one day, wouldn't she? She had to.

But the night came and Korra gave up, but only for the day, she would try again in the morning. And even though Korra wasn't feeling tired at all, she managed to lay down under giant leaves of an equal giant tree. Korra, then, closed her eyes and breathed, loudly enough to be heard along with the pink crickets and the three-eyed owls.

"Hello, Korra", Raava's voice sounded like a childhood dream. At first, Korra thought she was dreaming, but that couldn't be possible. She then opened her eyes and sat up.

"Raava! Finally."

"I'm here to tell you everything's all right, for now", Raava calmly said.

"Is the new Avatar already with you?"

"Yes."

"How does he look like?"

"It's not a 'he', and you must be patient, Korra. At the right time, the Avatar will come to you."

Raava didn't stay to hear what she had to say after that, Korra felt that Raava's voice suddenly left her mind, echoing distantly in the back of her head. Well, if she had to wait, then that's what she was going to do.

* * *

_Spiritual world_

  
Seven years had passed with no sign of Raava, which meant the Avatar was seven years old by now. Korra knew it was an earthbender, but that was all. After their first interaction, the next one only happened seven years later and Raava, once again, didn't have much to say to Korra.

"No, the Avatar doesn't know yet", and that was the only piece of information Raava gave her, after so long.

But Korra learned how to live with the expectations, the constant waiting. She got to know the spiritual world from end to end, visiting many places, meeting different spirits and their homes. Korra even spent time with Iroh, sharing the morning with him as both of them enjoyed their cups of tea.

"I wonder how Aang had felt, waiting for me as I wait for the new Avatar", Korra said before taking a sip of her drink.

"It wasn't easy for him, I must assure you", Iroh said.

"Really? How so?"

"Waiting for you didn't bother Avatar Aang at all, what came next was the real challenge. You must understand this, Korra. The difficult part was not waiting for you, what was really difficult was looking at you", Iroh that typical expression of the flow of a quiet river on his face, even though he was saying something serious.

Korra frowned. "What do you mean?"

"He had a new face, but it wasn't entirely new. He had seen you before", Iroh softly smiled.

"I still don't get it", Korra sighed.

Iroh comforted her, squeezing her shoulder just briefly. They drank all the tea, so he excused himself and didn't bring up the subject again. Korra wouldn't push, especially because she now understood she had to wait for the right moment, for literally everything.

But what Iroh said about Aang just couldn't leave her mind, at least not yet. Korra kept thinking about Aang going through the same and wondering why it was so difficult for him to look at her. How could Aang know Korra besides their link? If in the end, they were both the same person?

She wondered this, wondered that until she fell asleep.

* * *

_Human world_

  
Eighteen years after Korra's death.

The world had been living without the Avatar for nearly two decades, but luckily it wasn't tearing itself apart, yet. The Avatar was out there, all they had to do was wait.

But Asami had waited for too long. Korra had left them eighteen years ago, and still there was no sign of her new self. Asami tried to be patient, she tried to be understanding. She took all the responsibility of finding the Avatar for herself, given that she thought nobody else could do it. Nobody else could recognize the Avatar was the correct explanation.

With the help of their son, Isao, Asami and the Future Industries informed the rest of the world that they were going to find the Avatar. And they indeed worked hard on the task.

In the first months, Asami could barely sleep. All she managed to think about was seeing Korra, or what remained of her, again. Then a year had passed, and she allowed herself to succumb to exhaustion. More four years had passed, and Asami was focused on her company, which ended up being the most successful and profitable in the automotive industry. She created cars, jets and even trains. But that was not the only thing that changed in Asami's life, seven years after Korra's death, she married again. Back then, the new senator of Republic City, a tall and very charming man called Toshio proposed to her and she said 'yes'. Asami said 'yes' to a new life and not love, for she had done it before. She certainly liked Toshio, but it was different, weak almost.

In her entire life, and Asami was ninety-four years old now, she had only loved one person.

Asami looked through the window, the top floor of the building was her office. She had her green eyes focused on the traffic, the unknown people walking down the street, every now and then wondering if one of them was the Avatar. She sighed, the right side of her body being supported by her walking stick. She turned to sit on her desk when she was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Her assistant walked in, holding a bunch of papers in her hands.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Sato. But there's someone here to see you, she applied for the Avatar Test and they sent her to your office."

The Avatar Test was Isao's idea, they had been doing it for a year now. Instead of traveling the world looking for the Avatar, they thought it would be better if the Avatar came to them. So Isao invented a test for earthbenders only, young people with no more than eighteen years old could apply for the test. The last step was the interview with Asami, she had to look at each of them. And boy, she looked at many, but none of them proved to be the Avatar. Right now, she thought it was probably going to be a waste of time again, but deep inside she wished it wasn't.

"Well, send her in."

The assistant peeked outside and gestured for the young earthbender to come in.

The person that now stood before her nearly made Asami lose her balance. The earthbender had a long and dark hair, joint by a pair of green eyes, pursed lips and a long neck. Asami, still open-mouthed, stepped closer and analyzed every detail of the earthbender's face. She was amazed, shocked... Happy. It felt like seeing herself in the mirror.

The new Avatar would look like the person Korra most loved in her lifetime, the new Avatar looked like Asami. She teared up, feeling too emotional by the recent realization, and looked away.

"Hello, ma'am", the Avatar rubbed the neck, nervously. "Are you okay?"

"What's your name, young lady?", Asami asked.

"I'm not a lady", the Avatar laughed nervously. "And not a man either. My name is Ayumi."

"Ayumi...", Asami repeated after them, tasting the name. She smiled softly, realizing that Korra was still able to make her happy, even though she was no longer there. Well, now she was there again, sort of. "It's good to see you again, Avatar."

Ayumi's green eyes widened, then giving two steps back. They didn't say anything, Ayumi just stood there, staring at Asami without fully understanding.

"Wait, how do you know? You didn't even see me bending."

"I don't have to", Asami said as she turned to her desk. She opened one of the drawers and suddenly an old photograph was in her hands. She then handed it to Ayumi, who hesitated for a few seconds, but took the delicate print anyway. "This is a picture of myself when I was about your age. Do you see it now?"

"You look exactly like me, or I look exactly like you", Ayumi said, now a little less shocked, but not completely. Asami understood the current situation was hard to buy, but it was the truth.

"Through the generations of the Avatars, they had the faces of the people they loved in their past lives. Korra was the love of my life, as I was hers", Asami looked down after the last words. She had waited for this moment for eighteen years and only now she realized she had never been ready.

A single tear fell on Asami's face, but when she least expected, a soft hand wiped it away. It was Ayumi's, and they smiled with their eyes, that expression full of empathy that only belonged to the Avatar.

"I remember now", Ayumi said.

* * *

_Spiritual world_

  
Korra moved aside the branches on her way. Trying not to break or destroy anything, since the swamp in the spiritual world wasn't the best place to have enemies.

She crossed the mud with the help of a crook, also trying not to step on any spirit. It had happened before and she could guarantee it wasn't a nice memory. It took Korra at least two weeks to solve the problem.

Safely and without stepping on anyone, Korra made it to the other side of the swamp. Satisfied, she smiled and kept walking, but a sudden shiver made her stop. Korra looked back, wondering if she was being followed, but there was nothing at sight. Only branches and more branches. Korra wasn't convinced by the quietness, she was definitely not alone.

"Korra...", Raava's voice came, making Korra jump in surprise.

"Raava?", she shouted, almost desperately. It had been more than a decade since their last conversation.

But then silence all over again.

Korra huffed. Not this time, she thought. "Raava!"

Shouting for the last time, Korra heard branches moving behind her. She turned back in the first second, just in time to see a strong, powerful blue light in the middle of the swamp. Korra narrowed her eyes and walked towards the shiny blue.

When she got close enough, she saw a young person meditating, legs crossed, eyes closed and all. But then, as if listening to Korra's footsteps, the person opened the eyes. The sight made Korra tilt her head back in disbelief, but also in relief. It was the Avatar, and now suddenly Korra knew everything about them. She knew where they came from, who their parents were and that they looked exactly like Asami.

Korra felt again, all of her emotions were back, she missed missing Asami, she missed being sad and she missed being happy. Happy to see a part of Asami that now was a part of herself too, happy to finally see her reflection on the water. So that's how Aang felt after all, she realized. It was difficult to look love in the face, but extremely good.

"Korra...", Ayumi smiled.

"Ayumi...", Korra smiled back. She sat in front of the new Avatar. "I've been waiting for you."

**Author's Note:**

> \- Comments and suggestions are always appreciated!


End file.
